COUNCIL: Six candidates for two seats offer ideas on dealing with establishments one says are `out of control.’

By Andrea Woodhouse

Staff Writer

Many Hermosa Beach streets could still use some repaving, traffic is snarled at key intersections and major thoroughfares are due a makeover.

Regardless, what’s emerged as the driving issue in Tuesday’s City Council election is Hermosa’s signature political cocktail: its raucous nightlife.

Community outrage over the city’s well-marinated bar scene seemed to reach a fever pitch this year, as activists galvanized enough voters to trigger a ballot referendum opposing a city ordinance that would have allowed downtown businesses to avoid parking requirements, in turn helping a popular nightspot expand after a devastating fire.

The council repealed the ordinance and pulled the referendum from the ballot in August, but, three months later, the community is apparently still nursing a hangover as debate over the city’s nightlife has dominated the election season.

With Councilman Sam Edgerton not seeking another term, voters will elect at least one new council member Tuesday. Here’s a look at the six candidates vying for two seats behind the dais:

Janice Brittain, a 64-year-old retired school administrator on her second council run, wants to close all Pier Plaza outdoor patios at midnight to help muffle noise and disturbances.

“(The bars are) out of control, and they’re not being good neighbors,” said the 17-year resident. “The bars belong to Hermosa; Hermosa doesn’t belong to the bars. One thing we can do is control the plaza – that’s our street.”

Brittain, a public works commissioner, believes closing patios would give police a better handle on rowdy bar patrons.

Michael DiVirgilio, an eight-

year resident and public works commissioner, has proposed stepping up enforcement of public drunkenness and open container laws, as well as stricter enforcement of the bars’ conditional-use permits in the short term.

But the 36-year-old public affairs executive sees the real solution to Pier Plaza’s problems as something to be played out in the coming years through better civic planning and economic recruitment efforts.

“Because we don’t have a direction and a plan, a place we’re trying to get to in 10 years, I think it perpetuates a lack of enforcement downtown,” said DiVirgilio, who, with about $21,000, leads the pack in campaign contributions.

Jeff Duclos, a 62-year-old college instructor and small-business owner, said a restaurant and bar owners’ association was a good start to curbing downtown problems, but expected its efforts to fall short.

Instead, the 28-year resident on his third council bid proposed creating a coalition of residents, elected and safety officials, and bar owners to work together to find solutions to the city’s rowdy downtown.

“We have to face the facts,” he said. “It is a problem and the interests of our city are not being served. We never get beyond this level of rhetoric.”

“Enforcement in neighborhoods needs to be stepped up,” the three-year resident said. “There’s a nice presence on Pier Plaza, but we haven’t seen enough of neighborhood patrols.”

Keegan, who is not related to Mayor Michael Keegan, would also like Hermosa Beach to foster a closer relationship with the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, and stop issuing conditional-use permits to new taverns.

The seven-year resident, making his third council bid, wants to stop issuing further conditional-

use permits to bars, and wants to better police bar patrons who litter and urinate in the residential areas surrounding the downtown.

“It’s just bad manners,” he said. “No one is writing littering tickets down there. That should be taken care of.”

Incumbent Peter Tucker, seeking a second council term, said Pier Plaza incidents were down this year thanks to police efforts.

Still, the 35-year resident wants to keep pushing bar owners to be good neighbors, and form a committee of residents, city leaders and tavern proprietors to work out solutions.

“We need to keep pressure on them,” said Tucker, 61. “Enough’s enough. We don’t mind you doing this, but let’s be good citizens and not offend other people’s rights. It’s an effort that needs to be all over the whole spectrum.”

Though Tucker and Maxwell have both earned the support of the Hermosa Beach Restaurant Association, a group of local eatery and bar owners, neither candidate is touting the endorsement.

Both repeatedly said they never received word of an endorsement, though an e-mail from the organizer of the association’s lobbying efforts obtained by the Daily Breeze states the group notified both men’s campaigns of their endorsements nearly a month ago.

Tucker – the subject of recent negative mailers accusing him of being pro-bar – said he was baffled to be portrayed as bar-friendly and cited several decisions he made as a councilman to cap bar hours at midnight as evidence to the contrary.

Maxwell also said he was surprised to be depicted as a tavern ally, though he was an original investor in Shore, a bar and restaurant on Hermosa Avenue.

Despite all the alcohol talk, an overhaul of upper Pier Avenue is likely to become the next City Council’s legacy.

A committee is working to develop a plan for the city’s main commercial drag and will likely present a concept to the council in March.

Tucker, who is on the committee, envisions a family-friendly corridor with revamped infrastructure, landscaping and traffic-calming measures.

Maxwell would like to see the facades of Pier Avenue business revitalized, and a four-lane configuration maintained.

Keegan sees upgrading Pier Avenue’s sewer system as the most important component of its overhaul, but would also like to dress up its appearance with art pieces.

Instead of focusing just on Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach should include Pacific Coast Highway and Aviation Boulevard in its plans, Duclos said.

DiVirgilio’s priorities for Pier Avenue are upgrading sidewalks and intersections and then working to develop a long-term plan for its future.

Brittain, also a committee member, would like to continue the public process to determine how residents and business owners envision the corridor, but has said an upgrade to the street’s infrastructure is a necessity.

City Clerk Elaine Doerfling and Treasurer John Workman both are unopposed Tuesday for their respective posts.

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